Former Litchfield State's Attorney Frank S. Maco said Monday he is considering seeking legal representation to address what he called a personal, unprovoked assault on his character by filmmaker Woody Allen in a letter published in The New York Times over the weekend.

Maco, who had investigated allegations the Oscar-winning legend had sexually molested his then-7-year-old adopted daughter more than 20 years ago, said in an interview with Hearst Connecticut Media that he was particularly outraged at Allen's description of him as a district attorney "champing at the bit to prosecute a celebrity case."

"The attack upon my character was unprovoked, gratuitous, unwarranted and most importantly, unsupported by my history as a prosecutor," Maco said. "For me to sit silently in the face of this assault would do nothing less than betray the encouragement and support of so many, especially those who stood by me for the better part of five years of my career defending against Allen's disciplinary complaints -- all of which were dismissed."

Maco retired as the head prosecutor in the Litchfield Judicial District in 2003, following more than four decades of service in the state's justice system.

But he found himself drawn back into the two-decade-old controversy last week, after Dylan Farrow, the now 28-year-old daughter of Allen and actress and activist Mia Farrow, raised the sexual assault allegations against her father in her own letter, published in the New York Times on Feb. 2.

Allen responded with a lengthy op-ed piece, published in the Times on Sunday. In it, he vehemently denied the claim and accused Mia Farrow of coaching Dylan into making the charges because she was angry over their breakup and his romance, and later marriage, to another one of Farrow's children, Soon-Yi Previn, who Farrow and former husband Andre Previn had adopted years earlier.

Allen noted the Child Sexual Abuse Clinic at Yale-New Haven Hospital had concluded that Dylan hadn't been abused, a decision he said "disappointed a number of people," including a "district attorney champing at the bit to prosecute a celebrity case."

Allen also slammed the New York judge who awarded custody of Dylan and her then-4-year-old brother to Mia Farrow, who lives in Bridgewater.

Maco had announced his decision not to pursue charges against Allen in a news conference on Sept. 24, 1993, during which he said although he believed probable cause existed to prosecute Allen, he opted not to do so because of the possible traumatic impact testifying in court would have on the child.

"Being aware that any decision other than to prosecute exposes me and my office to accusations of betraying the children of our community, in the exercise of my discretion, I cannot identify a compelling state or community interest or expectation that justifies my risking the well-being of the child by exposure to the criminal process," Maco said.

Asked whether he was concerned that by not prosecuting Allen, it might put other children in danger, Maco again referred to his 1993 statement.

"I do not find that risk to outweigh the identifiable and obvious risk of future traumatization of the fragile child witness," he said.

"I believe that those who knew me and my work prior to 1992 would agree that I was a prosecutor who took a case, tried it to conclusion, if necessary, accepted the decision of the judge or jury, remained silent and took on my next case," he said Monday. "I would only speak publicly when to do less would undermine the community's confidence in my office, the Connecticut justice system or me personally."

In short, Maco said, "My history as a prosecutor was completely opposite to the `headlines seeking' prosecutor that Allen describes."

A call to Allen's attorney, Elkan Abromowitz, seeking comment on Maco's statement wasn't returned on Monday.

Allen, in his op-ed piece, wrote that it would be the last time he would comment on the situation.